Friday, September 30, 2005

Great news! The orginal tumor is markedly decreased. There is no longer any visible involvement in his stomach or abdominal lymph nodes and the lymph node in his neck is dying, at least in the center but possibly more. We have 2 more months (4 treatments) on the same course, then we'll reasses, change the arm pic line to a clavical shunt and go from there. They're actually saying remission is a possiblity!

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

The first breath of autumn blows through the trees And the nights are getting long and growing colder And the maples are turning and the fields have gone brown And the waves against the shore make such a sad sound-Dan Fogelberg

There are really few words that adequately express my feelings about the state of Maine. It truly has become the place where my inner compass gets reset. After our very first visit back in 1996, I wrote in my Maine journal:

I'd always wanted to go there, mainly out of curiosity. I had no idea what to expect. I had no idea that the very foundation of my soul would be shaken by that place. It's been a year since that first visit, but not a day has passed since that I haven't thought of it. How much I want to go back there, how much I want to live there, how much I don't ever want to leave there.

This trip did nothing to change that. I have never felt more at home than I did out on that wooden sailing yacht. The water, the popping of the sails in the wind, the seabreeze blowing in your face, all conspire to bring focus and direction. Everything I do now is centered on our permanent relocation to Maine. The path is neither short nor straight, but the destination is set.

Friday, September 09, 2005

bumped back to the topOn the way back to Boothbay Harbor this a.m. Yipee!!!

It's Maine...And it's AutumnThe birches have just begun turningIt's life and it's dyingThe lobstermen's boats come returningWith the catch of they day in their holdsand the young boys cold and complainingThe fog meets the beaches and out onthe Reach it is raining --It's father and sonIt's the way it's been done since theold daysIt's hauling by hand ten miles outfrom the land where their chow waitsAll the days get so lonely and longand seas grow so stormy and strong butThe Reach will sing welcome as homewardthey hurry along.And the morning willblow awayAs the waves crash and fallAnd the Reach like a siren singsas she beckons and callsAs the coastline recedes from viewAnd the seas swell and rollI will take from the Reachall that she has to teachTo the depths of my soul –-Dan Fogelberg, The Reach

Once again, September will find us on the coast of Maine.Maine has become a safe harbor for me. A place where the natural order is restored once I step off the plane in Portland and get the first whiff of saltwater or hear the longing of the seagulls along the waterfront. My inner compass gets reset and the things that seemed to matter just a day before are all of a sudden reduced to their intrinsic insignificance. The smell of the pines along the bay clear out the haze and once again focus my thoughts on the journey ahead.And when it is time to leavethe bellowing of the foghorn as the fog creeps in on cat paws,the popping of the sails on a schooner in the harbor,the falling of the yellow, red, and orange leaves in the woods as a winter's blanket for the trees,the ringing of the buoy bell,and the flashing light from the lighthouse on the island,are all calling me to come back "home" again soon.

Monday, September 05, 2005

John Edwards used parts of this speech in his 2004 Presidential and Vice-Presidential campaigns

And we have so much work to do. Because the truth is, we still live in two different Americas: one for people who have lived the American Dream and don't have to worry, and another for most Americans who work hard and still struggle to make ends meet.

It doesn't have to be that way. We can build one America.

We can build one America where we no longer have two health care systems. One for people who get the best health care money can buy and then one for everybody else, rationed out by insurance companies, drug companies, and HMOs millions of Americans who don't have any health insurance at all.

It doesn't have to be that way.

We shouldn't have two public school systems in this country: one for the most affluent communities, and one for everybody else.

None of us believe that the quality of a child's education should be controlled by where they live or the affluence of their community.

It doesn't have to be that way.

We shouldn't have two different economies in America: one for people who are set for life, their kids and grandkids will be just fine, and then one for most Americans who live paycheck to paycheck.

And you know what I'm saying. You don't need me to explain it to you, you know you can't save any money, can you? Takes every dime you make just to pay your bills, and you know what happens if something goes wrong a child gets sick, somebody gets laid off, or there's a financial problem, you go right off the cliff.

And what's the first thing to go. Your dreams. It doesn't have to be that way.

Now I have friends who told me that the Two Americas idea was just a load of political nonsense. Of course they would say that. I'm pretty sure most of them have never seen the "other" America from the comfort of their small town or sterile suburb. Oh, they think they know. They'll hear the buzzwords of welfare mom, or food stamps, or Medicaid and then go into some rant about how "those people" are too lazy to get a job. Well this past week, the "other" America showed up in their living rooms in the faces of the thousands of people too poor to have a car in which to escape or enough money to pay for gas and a hotel room on the way out of town. The "other" America was shown living in squalor inside a sporting arena on every single news channel. But those who refuse to acknowledge the Two Americas focused on the few thugs whose opportunistic crime sprees gained airtime. "That's just how 'those people' are." Those who refuse to acknowledge the Two Americas watched Hardy Jackson break down as he described having to let go of his wife as the storm surge ripped their house in half, and then had the nerve to say that Hardy should have left town sooner.

Katrina has brought a much needed spotlight on the "other" America. People all over the country have opened up their wallets to help those in need, because that's what Americans do. But this is the face of the "other" America. It won't vanish whenever the last family leaves the shelter and disappears back into anonymity in another city, in another state, in the "other" America. They will still be there wondering why it takes a natural disaster for anyone to notice, or to care.

Like all of us, I have learned a lot of lessons in my life. Two of the most important are that first, there will always be heartache and struggle. You can't make it go away. But the other is that people of good and strong will, can make a difference. One lesson is a sad lesson and the other's inspiring. We are Americans and we choose to be inspired.

We choose hope over despair; possibilities over problems; optimism over cynicism. We choose to do what's right even when those around us say, "You can't do that." We choose to be inspired because we know that we can do better because this is America where everything is still possible.

What we believe is that you should never look down on anybody, that we should lift people up. We don't believe in tearing people apart. We believe in bringing people together. What we believe what I believe is that the family you're born into and the color of your skin in our America should never control your destiny.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the first Monday of September in each year, being the day celebrated and known as Labor's Holiday, is hereby made a legal public holiday, to all intents and purposes, in the same manner as Christmas, the first day of January, the twenty-second day of February, the thirtieth day of May, and the fourth day of July are now made by law public holidays.

APPROVED, June 28, 1894.

"It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership -- the American worker."

Labor Day was declared a national holiday in 1894. It is a tribute to people like my grandparents and great-grandparents - the sharecroppers, the farmers, the linemen, the cabinet makers, and soldiers of The Greatest Generation. Each and every one of them working hard every day to provide a better life for their children. And in passing down the ethics of a hard day's work, they've ensured that each generation that has come after them has indeed had a better life than those before. So on this day, I think about my forefathers who worked hard each day to make this a better place.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

What has happened down here, is the winds have changedClouds roll in from the north and it started to rainIt rained real hard, and it rained for a real long timeSix feet of water in the streets of Evangeline

The river rose all day, the river rose all nightSome people got lost in the flood, some people got away alrightThe river had busted through clear down to Placker MineSix feet of water in the streets of Evangeline

Louisiana, LouisianaThey're trying to wash us away, they're trying to wash us awayOh Louisiana, LouisianaThey're trying to wash us away, they're trying to wash us away

President Coolidge come down, in a railroad trainWith his little fat man with a note pad in his handPresident say "little fat man, oh isn't it a shame,What the river has done to this poor farmer's land"

About Me

Research Scientist at Monsanto with a passion in sustainable agriculture and helping small stakeholder farmers in the developing world. All opinions expressed or implied are my own and do not represent the position of Monsanto.

Over 20 years bench experience studying protein structure, folding, and
design. Early work was on determinants of protein secondary structure
from a computational approach. The bulk of my lab work has focused on
the structure and function of bacterial protein toxins, mainly on the
endotoxins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis and their insecticidal
activities. Related to that work I have an interest in the biophysics of
membranes and how they interact with proteins.

During my research time at the bench, I have become a recognized leader
in building science-based platforms as well as a leading developer of
people. I successfully built a protein design group and then wholly
integrated a broad protein science platform of 35+ people. I then moved
outside of my area of technical expertise and built a cell biology
platform of 35+ people working in all areas of plant cell biology, RNA
biology, and genome modification biology. My current task is integrating
a platform of 40+ scientists in the areas of cell biology and
analytical chemistry.

Outside of direct technical scientific work, I am deeply passionate
about the role of agriculture in helping to eliminate extreme poverty
and in building a sustainable world for small stakeholder farmers in
Africa. Providing the broad set of modern agricultural tools to poor
farmers will provide them with the means to not only feed their
families, but to also participate in the broader economy to raise
themselves out of poverty. Where you live should not determine whether
you live and I am pleased to work with the ONE Campaign to help bring
about this change for Sub-Saharan Africa.